LAGUNA HILLS – Crean Lutheran used its powerful run game to beat Saddleback Valley Christian, 41-24, Friday at Laguna Hills.
The duo of Anthony Cooper and Zach Macadam scored all six of the Saints’ touchdowns. They rushed for 236 and 97 yards, respectively. Crean Lutheran rushed for 372 yards.
The Warriors struck first with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Cade Henjum to Marc Audet. Henjum completed all four passes in the opening drive.
On the next Warriors series, Saints safety Ryan O’Keefe intercepted Henjum’s pass to give Crean Lutheran the ball at the 50-yard line. Cooper ran for 44 yards on the next play and scored on a 6-yard run on the second play to give Crean Lutheran a 7-6 lead.
Macadam scored on a 5-yard run to give the Saints a 14-6 lead entering halftime.
The offense picked up in the second half. Henjum scored on a 17-yard run on SVC’s opening drive to cut the lead to two.
Macadam answered with a 24-yard TD run to extend the lead to eight.
The Warriors responded. Nolan Purdy caught a 59-yard pass from a receiver to give the Warriors the ball at the 3. Henjum ran it in for a TD to cut the lead. Cooper rushed for all 58 yards on the next Saints scoring drive to put Crean up 27-18.
The run game continued to dominate the fourth quarter as Macadam and Cooper each scored to put the game away.
The loss was the Warrior’s first regular-season loss since 2014.
